Liberals must legislate standards to fulfil pledge in pact, says NDP
Consultations on new bill will begin in ‘coming months’
OTTAWA The Liberals must enshrine new standards for longterm-care homes in law to fulfil a pledge in the confidence-and-supply agreement that would help keep their minority government in power, the health critic for the New Democrats said Tuesday.
A panel of experts with the nonprofit Health Standards Organization released updated guidance for long-term care in Canada on Tuesday, in light of the deadly and tragic toll the COVID-19 pandemic took on residents and their quality of life.
The new standards, which are not currently enforced, recommend that residents should get at least four hours of direct care every day, and that those who work with them must be paid more.
The Liberals committed to legislate safety in long-term care as part of the confidence-and-supply deal the parties signed last March, which would see the NDP support the minority government through crucial parliamentary votes until 2025, in exchange for action on key priorities.
New Democrat MP Don Davies, the health critic for his party, said these new standards must provide the foundation for that promised legislation.
“If it’s going to be safe, then those standards have to be in the legislation,” Davies said outside of the House of Commons Tuesday.
The Liberal government has so far not committed to legislating the standards, but federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says consultations on the new long-term-care bill will begin in the “coming months.”
It is tricky ground for the federal government to tread, since longterm care falls under provincial jurisdiction. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that he recognizes the provinces are responsible for delivering and regulating the care, but all Canadians want to see seniors’ care held to the highest standard possible.
“That’s what we’re going to continue to work on,” Trudeau said on his way into a meeting with his cabinet ministers.
Experts with the Health Standards Organization said the new standards will only help if the government puts them into practice and makes sure they are followed.
“These standards are only useful if … they become the basis of enforcement and accountability measures, not only accreditation measures,” said Dr. Samir Sinha, the chair of the technical committee that developed the updated standards.
He suggested the standards could become the basis of provincial legislation, policy, or some other means of accountability.
For now, every province makes its own rules about the accreditation, operation and inspection of longterm care, creating a patchwork system across the country that governs how the homes should be designed, operated and maintained.
Trudeau promised in the 2021 election to legislate safety in longterm care across the country, and doubled down on that promise in the pact with the NDP, but the government has not said what that law would entail.
The government set aside $3 billion in the 2021 budget to help provinces and territories apply standards to long-term care, top up wages, and improve staff to patient ratios.
“Now, we are looking forward to sign agreements with provinces and territories to see how they can use those dollars to further meet these new standards,” Duclos said.
Much more money will likely be needed to implement the standards.
In 2021 the parliamentary budget officer estimated it would cost an additional $4.3 billion per year just to expand the number of hours of daily care to the four hours listed by the Health Standards Organization.